Donald Trump's best golf course 'can't cope' as Open Championship dream eludes him
Donald Trump's best golf course 'can't cope' as Open Championship dream eludes him
Sam FrostWed, August 12, 2026 at 10:02 AM UTC
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Colin Montgomerie has raised his concerns about the direction of The Open Championship -Credit:Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Colin Montgomerie is concerned about the direction of The Open Championship as golf's oldest major becomes a commercial behemoth, and he believes Donald Trump's Turnberry is among the courses that "can't cope" with the demand.
The Open has grown dramatically over the past decade, with a record-breaking 306,000 spectators turning out at Royal Birkdale last month. The R&A insists it is not solely choosing Open venues based on their capacity to accommodate huge crowds, but the tournament's build-out for players and fans alike has grown substantially in recent years.
Iconic Scottish links Turnberry, which was bought by Trump in 2014, has not hosted The Open since 2009, and Muirfield has not staged the tournament since 2013. In both cases, R&A CEO Mark Darbon says infrastructure issues are the reason.
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Former world No. 2 Montgomerie, runner-up at the 2005 Open, is pleased to see golf's booming popularity, but he fears the essence of The Open could be lost.
“You see what’s happening to The Open and the numbers involved now. Some of these classic courses are running out of room," he told Today's Golfer. "Muirfield is running out of room. Turnberry is running out of room.
"There’s a number of them that infrastructurally cannot cope with 300,000 fans. At St Andrews next year, they’re talking about 400,000.
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Turnberry is the jewel of Trump's golf course portfolio -Credit:Getty Images
"Hang on, these old courses at the end of a train line can’t cope. It’s unfortunate that we’re having to play courses that have more space other than the ones that are true Open venues to accommodate what’s gone on."
Montgomerie believes finances have become too big a factor. He continued: “I think it was less than 100,000 during the last Turnberry Open in 2009. It’s dramatic, we’re talking four times that. It is a shame we have to go to the bigger venues as opposed to the best ones.
"Is it a sign of the times? Yes, it is. It’s good for golf that we want people to come and watch, [but] it has to be the word ‘money’ is involved. That word wins every time.”
The R&A would disagree, and it would point to the award of the 2028 Open to Royal Lytham & St Annes as evidence that the governing body is not solely thinking about the bottom line.
The northwest England venue is tightly bordered by a trainline and houses, making it much less spacious than recent venues like Royal Birkdale and Royal Portrush.
“If we’re able to facilitate spectator volumes onsite, we’ll always consider that, but it’s not the primary driver for us,” Darbon told reporters at Birkdale.
“Lytham has a much smaller footprint. There’s absolutely no way we’ll be near the volume of spectators at Lytham that we have [at Birkdale].
Trump, meanwhile, has made no secret of his dream to host The Open at Turnberry under his stewardship, and reports claim he lobbied the U.K. government to aid his cause.
Source: “AOL Sports”
